Problem Child
by cardiffictionlocked1895
Summary: AU. An insane girl with a tragic past seeks revenge by trying to murder Odin, ultimately leading to Thor's coronation and igniting Loki's desire for vengeance. Pre-Thor. No slash or pairings. Final part (part 5) of Life as We Never Knew It series. I do not own Marvel or any of its characters
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Thor

I didn't notice the stranger until the end of Father's 302th birthday celebration. They- for a moment, I have to admit, I was unsure of the gender- were dressed in all black, keeping in the shadows of the banquet hall near the door, watching me. Piercing blue eyes held mine for a second, and then just disappeared. One moment I could make out the stranger's silhouette, then the next it was gone. Vanished. No way it had been Loki. I would have assumed that, had it not been for the fact he was sitting right next to me, looking over my shoulder to see what I was staring at. I began to wonder if I had eaten too much and was hallucinating. No, I decided. I couldn't have imagined those eyes.

I waited to all the guests had left before I went to Father. Just as I was opening my mouth, though, the stranger appeared again, standing a few feet behind my father. I could tell it was a girl now, even though she was still partially in the shadows. She was wearing a hood, but I could see the outline of feminine features on her face. She smirked at me. Meanwhile, Father was staring at my open-mouth face. "What?" he asked, annoyed with my silence. "Who is she?" I said, pointing over his shoulder at the girl. He turned around, surprised, to face her. As I watched, something like hatred flicked briefly across her features, temporally distorting them; but it quickly changed to a guarded expression. I ignored it. She didn't even know my father; how could she hate him so quickly? It was impossible.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" my father asked coolly.

"I am Cena. My parents were killed when I was young. I'm simply here to ask a small favour."

"And what would that be?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "Just a place to stay. My uncle, who raised me, died very recently." Her expression turned devastated. "I have nowhere else to go."

Father took pity on her. "Of course," he replied. "I'll have a servant show you to a guest room."

The innocent smile was back. "Oh, thank you!" she said, sounding very much like an over-joyous child. From the corner of my eye, I saw Loki roll his eyes. His expression was nothing less than suspicious. What was his problem? She seemed perfectly innocent, just a girl with a tragic past looking for a place to call home, at least for a little while. As the servant led her past me, I could see that she wasn't really a girl. Loki's age, probably; nineteen, or eighteen, at the very least. As I watched, she suddenly turned and winked at Loki. _Winked _at him! I couldn't believe her. Neither could my younger brother, apparently. He just stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Now _that's_ something you don't see every day.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Thor

Breakfast was...well, interesting. When Cena walked into the dining room where all of us were waiting. I noticed three things: first, the long deep blue dress she wore that I recognized as one of my mother's. Oddly enough, it fit her perfectly. Second, the shining black sword that hung from her belt. This surprised me. What did she think; we were going to attack her? Last was her face. My breath caught in a startled gasp as I saw it. I heard the others do the same. She must have been beautiful once, with her full lips and high cheekbones and long black hair. But those days were over. Her pretty features were distorted by a long, curving scar that stretched from her eyebrow down to her cheek on the left side of her face. An ugly purple birthmark covered her right cheek. And her eyes. They had been blue that last I'd seen them. Now they were blood red. Suddenly the air in front of her damaged face shimmered, and her eyes turned back to blue as the birthmark faded away. I would have thought I imagined everything had it not been for the scar still running down her face.

Suddenly I thought I saw a strange look on Father's face, like he remembered her from somewhere. It was gone in an instant.

But worse was yet to come. She ignored our stares and sat fluidly down at my left side, next to Loki. "Hello. And you are?" She asked.

"I'm Loki, and if I remember correctly, your name is Cena."

Cena seemed delighted that he could recall this tiny piece of information. "Yes, I am." she replied, and her eagerness was almost tangible. She was twisting a strand of her hair around her fingers, almost apprehensively, I thought, but that must have been my imagination. "I just wanted to know if you liked my dress."

Ok, not my imagination.

But Loki never missed a beat. "It looks fine." He said coolly, but I could tell the very, very tiny amount of space between them that was closing fast made him nervous. Her responding "Thank you!" was way too sincere. Loki ever so subtly inched away, as much as he could without her noticing, even though all she could see was him. "I'm sorry, but I have to go now." Loki insinuated, and then stood to leave.

Cena was oblivious. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," It was clear he was beyond uncomfortable by then.

"Oh, alright, later then." She still didn't get it, the imbecile.

Loki didn't reply as he walks swiftly to the door, desperate to escape.

My parents just stared at Cena, trying process to what had happened. Turning to them, she once again ignored this. "Thank you for having me." she said, though not as quite as sincere as she was with Loki.

Mother recovered first. "Our pleasure, dear."

Then the food was served, and what little conversation we might have had stopped. Somehow I got the feeling that the rest of the day was going to be pretty bad, too.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Loki

As soon as I made it to my room, I shut and locked the door. Who knows, maybe she possessed the nerve to follow me.

Breakfast was a disaster. She had just sat down next to me with absolutely no regard for my extremely personal space. And don't forget the flirting. _ If she tries that again,_ I swore silently, _her face will get even uglier. _I may have not been as buff as Thor, but it would have just be too easy to break her nose.

I did get something out of it, though. While she was forgetting that I have personal space, a book slipped out of her pocket. I grabbed it, and I opened it up, now in the relative safety of my bedchamber, and just as soon dropped it in shock.

Two words had caught my eye: _Kill Odin._

The knock on the door brought me back into reality. _Please don't be her. Please don't be her. Anybody but her. _I gently eased open the door, trying to make it look casual. _Oh, thank the gods, it's just Thor._

My relief quickly turned to irritation at the first words out of his mouth. "Hey, Loki, I was just curious, was that the girl who abducted you that one time and then started snogging you viciously when-"

"This. Is. A. Different. Girl. Not her." I hissed though my teeth, indignant.

"Are you sure? Maybe you didn't recognize her. I mean, it was a good seven years ago..."

"Was it really that long? I wouldn't know, because, unlike you, Thor, I wasn't counting. Why is this so important to you?"

"She's just so...you know...pretty."

"Yeah, she's _real_ pretty. But is she prettier than Sif?"

"Quiet!" He knocked me sideways before I slammed my door shut. I leaned against it, thinking, and attempted to be positive, which really does not come naturally to me. _At least it wasn't Mila._ It was a small bit of comfort in an expanding sea of worry.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Loki:

I didn't pick up the book for the rest of the day. It sat there, haunting me.

Then, long after dinner, _she_ came into my room. She should have been asleep. Then again, I should have been too, but I never go to sleep that early. Anyway, I heard her before she was even in my room, so I could brace myself.

"Hello, Loki," she smiled that creepy smile of hers, looking right at me. All of the sudden, pain raged though me, knocking me to the ground, where I lay writhing. I grit my teeth to keep from screaming, because I'm sure that's what she wanted. It felt like every part of me was on fire, and there was absolutely nothing I can do about it. I hated being helpless more than I hated the pain. I realized that the flirting and all that had just been a cover, to make her look more innocent, when really, underneath, she was even scarier.

"That's for taking my stuff." Her voice was like acid, cutting into me, adding to the nearly unbearable pain.

Suddenly it all stops. But just as I catch my breath, it starts again.

"And that's for reading it."

"I...didn't...read..." Is all I manage to get out.

"Oh, well. Too late. I suppose I shall tell you my story anyway, since I'd like you, of all people, to know why I'm going to kill your father." I can see the madness glinting in her now red eyes. The birthmark's coming back too. Whatever she was doing to hide it isn't working. "I know you're wondering why in this world I would do such a thing. Shall I list the reasons? My father was your grandfather's right hand man. He was much more prepared to rule when Odin's father died in that 'accident'. But no, Odin got the throne. My father fought him for it, but he was killed in the end. My mother and I fled, but not before he cursed me." She snarled. "Look at me! I am a monster! Your father did this to me! And later on, once he found us, he killed my mother. He will pay for what he has done-to me, to my family!" She was spitting with fury by the end of it. It occurred to me then this girl was not driven by vengeance. No, she was driven by something even stronger- insanity. All though her speech, which I'm surprised I could actually pay attention to, the fire continued to burn me. I had to fight to breathe. "So, Loki... where is your father?"

Her voice was strangely hypnotizing. Every part of me ached to tell her- maybe then the fire would stop. _N_O_! _I screamed silently at my entire being. _She doesn't know where Father's room is, but she will soon, and I will not be one to tell her. _I stayed silent.

She sighed. "Oh well. I really _did_ like you, Loki. What a waste it truly is. I will be back to kill you in a few hours." She smiled again. "Sweet dreams."

Then my strength deserted me, and as black clouded my vision, I was able to hang to one last thought: I hope Thor has taken classes on fighting crazed girls. Strange as it was, I would still be holding on this thought when I awoke three hours later.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Thor:

Nothing could have prepared me for what happened that night.

To this day I'm not really sure how she ended up in my room that night, but what scares me more is that she thought I was my _father_.

I remember hearing something that sounded like laugh mixed with a sneer as I lay there half-asleep. My eyes snapped open to see a fireball hurtling toward my face. I rolled out of the way a second before my bed burst into flame. I jumped up, shaking off the haze of sleep and coughing from the smoke.

"Odin?" Cena's voice reached though the flames that clouded my vision.

"Why...why..." my brain was still foggy, preventing me from any degree of rational thinking. "I'm Thor...why is...bed...burning..."

"Idiot!" She screeched. I had an odd feeling she was talking to herself.

In an instant she was in front of me, her surprisingly strong hands wrapping around my unprotected throat. Choking me. "Where is he?" she breathed in my face. "Where is your father?" She squeezed harder, cutting of most of my air.

Reacting on instinct, my hand curled into a fist and with full-force punched her in the gut. She doubled over, letting go of me to hold her stomach. I massaged my throat, feeling slightly smug. I should have known that it was just the beginning.

"So you won't tell me?" Cena rasped. "Well then I guess I'll just have to find for myself..." she trailed off, and smiled a poisonous smile, "_After_ I kill you."

She lunged at me, and I had barely enough time to grab my hammer. I threw it at her, and she crashed into it, and was thrown onto the wall. I knew the sound must have woken up everyone in the palace. That was good. I mean, I was pretty sure I could hold her, but if I couldn't...

She smiled up at me again from the rubble of what had once been the east wall of my room. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. "Oh, it's not over yet, bad boy." She coughed out. She stood up shakily, pulling from her cloak the black sword I had seen earlier at breakfast.

She moved to fast for me to see, but the next thing I knew, sharp pain slashed through my left arm as blood began to pour out from the six-inch long gash her sword had left in me.

I heard my gasp of pain, and instantly hated myself from letting it show. But the damage was done. When she laughed, it sounded insane and evil and angry and triumphant all at once.

Okay, this next part is really embarrassing, but you should know I was still asleep. Kind of.

All the sudden she had me pinned against the wall, digging her bony little elbows into my chest. I was exhausted. I knew I shouldn't have been, but I was. _She's playing with your mind, Thor_, a little voice inside me said. But I couldn't repel her. _I wish I had taken that class on fighting crazed girls! _(Believe me, there was one.)

As I saw her position her deadly weapon to stab me through the heart, I knew I only had seconds. Suddenly inspiration came to me. Maybe she had to concentrate hard to play her mind games. Maybe if I could distract her...

"Where's Loki?" I asked. I really was wondering where he and the others were. They should have been here by now. It wasn't possible to not have heard the wall crumble.

She laughed again. "I took care of all your servants earlier. You won't be seeing them ever again- if I wasn't going to kill you. Didn't put up much of a fight at all. As for Loki...well, he won't find your body for a little while at least. That is, if I didn't kill him first."

This worried the one small part of my brain that wasn't watching for the perfect moment. But I was too absorbed to care much at the time. And then the moment came. She turned away just for a second, to make sure no one was barging in the door, I guess, and I made my move. As soon as my hammer made contact with her head, I knew it'd be while before she woke up, and that she'd probably just had quite a dip in IQ points.

And then the door banged open, revealing my parents, and I realized just how bad it must have looked. The flaming bed in the corner, the destroyed wall, and me, leaning against an intact wall, propping up the unconscious body of a palace guest, who had a bloody mouth and a dent in her skull.

"Okay...I know this looks really, really bad, but...she started it."

They just continued to stare at me, their expressions a mixture of horror and anger.

I tried again. "I can explain...she tried to kill me...she wanted you dead, Father..." I trail off hopelessly. Then I noticed my father's face has changed from a glare to an expression of disbelief. "Start from the beginning." he finally said.

So I tell him everything. I can see, by the end of it, that he's proud of me. But just as this is occurring to me, a new, horrifying thought blocked out everything else. "Have either of you seen Loki lately?"

All the blood drained from my mother's face as she stood, frozen with shock. She ran out into the hall toward his room. "Loki!" she yelled, her voice high-pitched with anxiety. My father and I followed, not sure what to expect as she burst through his door, but knowing we can't let her face this alone.


	6. Chapter 6

Loki:

When I open my eyes, all I can make out is the blurry outline of a face. I squeeze my lids shut, and assuming its Cena, and automatically cringe away, waiting for the pain. But it doesn't come. I carefully open my eyes again and squint at the figure seated two feet away from me, and I am relieved to find it's just Thor.

"Loki?" he asked, looking at me with concern. Ugh. I so do not need to be pitied.

"I'm fine," I try to stand, but the world starts to spin at an odd angle and I give up. "Go away. It's Cena you need to be watching." I lay back down my bed, though I have no idea how I got there. This is so humiliating.

He chuckles. "Don't worry. She's in prison now." He guiltily glances over at my bedside table, which I now notice has empty dishes on it. "I ate your breakfast. Sorry. Don't tell anyone, okay? I just got really hungry and it was right there-"

I cut him off. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Three hours."

"What did I miss?"

And then he tells me all about his epic battle, which, I soon realize, was not nearly as long and drawn out as he makes it; finding me (apparently they thought I was dead); and then the part that makes wonder about my father's sanity: the coming coordination. Father is making Thor king just because he fought a girl and won! He doesn't even ask about the torture I had to suffer that lead up to me "looking dead". This is so unfair. I would have fought her too, had I been given the chance! The jealousy and anger threatened to consume me.

I don't let my brother see it, though. I just muttered, "That's great, Thor," and tell him to go away so I can rest. But this was far from over. All I needed was the perfect plan...


End file.
